


Who's Gonna Save the Hero

by Whambamthanksbatfam



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Oliver Queen Has Feelings, POV Outsider, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sleep Deprivation, triggers?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-04
Updated: 2018-04-10
Packaged: 2019-04-18 11:34:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14212263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whambamthanksbatfam/pseuds/Whambamthanksbatfam
Summary: Oliver helps Barry through his hard times. He's Barry's hero, but who's going to save the hero?





	1. Forget About It

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, y'all!  
> Here's a new fic, so I hope y'all enjoy it!   
> It's kinda like the sequel to Be My Hero, but you don't have to read it to understand this one.

Oliver had just come back from his monthly meeting with Barry. They talked about the usual stuff: villains, cases, etc. Nothing special. Usually, after coming back from these meetings with Barry, Oliver feels a bit lighter. Barry is a bright guy after all. Most of the time he radiates it. He hasn’t had any bad days in awhile so most of the time pretty much means all the time. 

The thing was, Oliver didn’t feel light. He felt a bit off. There was nothing special going on or anything. He just felt really stressed with all that’s going on with Team Arrow and all the things running through his mind. For some new, unclear reason all of the team except for Felicity seems mad at him. It hurts. 

They think he’s a heartless monster. That he has no feelings. They hurt him so much and they can’t even tell. He tries to not let the words get to him. He keeps a poker face on, but his mask is going to crack soon. He just knows it.

They’re chewing him out again. Throwing words trying to break him. The words fly into his mask cracking it. Like rocks to a window. He escapes before the mask simply shatters. 

He gets home faster than he ever has before. He feels nauseous. He runs into the bathroom and his lunch comes back up. He can’t do this anymore. He can’t put the mask back together. It’s broken and he can’t fix it. 

He leans against the tile wall, breathing heavily. He can’t slow his breathing. He can’t breathe. He’s still trying to breathe, choking on air. He hears his name. It echoes through the room. Felicity? He thinks it’s Felicity, but he’s starting to feel lightheaded and he can’t really tell. “Oliver!” Felicity gasps. She’s by his side in a second. “You have to breathe, Oliver.” She states worriedly. 

He’s still choking on air and starting to turn blue. She needs to calm him down. She looks around his cabinets. Bingo, a sedative. She gets some water and helps him take and wash down the pill. Slowly he calms down. 

He’s leaning against the wall now. Eyes droopy from the sedative. He’s breathing, though. “Oliver,” Felicity says softly. He doesn’t answer. “Oliver,” she says again and he looks at her. He looks distressed. Maybe some rest would do him so well. Felicity helps him up and leads him to his room. Once he’s situated she sits in the chair to the right of his bed.

She wonders what’s wrong. She turns to ask him, but she sees he’s pulled the blanket over his head, and there is a soft whimpering going through the quiet room. It’s Oliver. Is he okay, Felicity wonders? He tends to hide his weakness. This is why the others can tend to forget that Oliver is human too. He doesn’t show it, but he has feelings. 

Felicity puts a hand on what she perceives to be Oliver’s shoulder under the blanket. She knows he doesn’t like touching too much, so she just settles for something that makes her presence known. She wants him to know that he’s not alone. He stops trembling, and she can feel the steady cadence of his breath.

Felicity decides she’s gonna get to the bottom of this, but first, she’ll need to enlist the help of a certain fellow vigilante.    


	2. Call in the Draft

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity and Oliver decide to go on a vigilante vacay! 
> 
> P.S. I'm so bad at summaries!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, y'all!  
> Here is the next installment. Just to let y'all know, this fic is the sequel of "Be My Hero," but It'll probably be shorter. That's subject to change though. I hope y'all like it!

Felicity was sitting in Oliver’s living room wondering how she should get Barry. She could call him and have him run the about 1,000 miles (A/N In case you haven’t read any of my previous stories, I use the actual distance between Central City, Colorado and Star City, Arkansas as the homes of Teams Flash and Arrow respectively.) here, or she could go by train. Also, she could just have her and Oliver take a mini vigilante vacay to Central. Yep, that was what they were going to do. So Felicity got to work packing, booking train tickets and calling to book hotel rooms.

After all, that was done she called Barry to let him know they were coming. Barry was excited to hear about their trip but wanted to know why. Felicity simply explained what had been happening and that they could figure out the rest of what they were gonna do for Oliver when he got there.

Now, all there was to do was to wait for all Oliver to wake up so that they could go. Felicity gave him a strong sedative, so he’d be out for awhile. Felicity ordered some pizza and planted herself on the chair in his room with a computer.

Once she finished putting another firewall on the Arrow database she heard a groan. Felicity shut her laptop immediately. “Oliver?” She asked. “Are you up?” She received another groan and then a whimper in return. Was he hurt? She pulled the blanket off him to check, but there were no bruises or cuts. She called his name again, but he still didn’t respond. That’s when Felicity noticed he was laying in a fetal position frozen.

  
“Oliver,” she said curtly. She then ripped the blanket off him, thinking he was just being a big baby. He still didn’t move, so she proceeded to jump on them with all her might. He then shot up, grabbed her leg, and threw her across the room. “Oliver!” she yelled, wincing as she tried to get up. He opened his eyes and saw what’d he’d done.

  
He ran into the closet and pulled his legs to his chest. What has he done? He shouldn’t be around people. All he does is hurt them. He hurt Diggle, Thea, and Felicity. She’d been nothing but kind and understanding. He shouldn't be near anyone. “Oliver, I’m okay. Come out.” he heard Felicity talking.

No. He wasn’t going to go out there and hurt anyone. He was going to stay in this closet forever. Felicity opened the door slowly. In front of her was Oliver: tears were streaming down his face, and he was muttering something incoherently. When he saw her he started talking: “Sorry, Felicity. I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to… I…” he broke out into choked sobs.

  
“It’s okay, see?” She pointed to herself. “I’m fine.” He lays his head on her shoulder. He quieted down a little, but he was still crying. Felicity sat down beside him and hugged him. They sat there until he stopped.

  
Felicity figured this was the perfect time to tell him her idea. “So, I was thinking we take a little vacation.” She stopped waiting to gauge his reaction, he had none. He just sat there breathing with his head still on her shoulder. “I already took care of everything too. We’re gonna go visit Barry in Central.” He still didn’t respond. “Would you like that?” She inquired hoping for an affirmation. He shifted a bit, then nodded his head. Felicity perked up a little. “Great we leave tonight!”


	3. Zombie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver & Felicity start their Vigilante Vacay and Barry & Felicity make an important life decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, y'all!  
> I'm so happy y'all are reading my story! I hope you're enjoying it! I try to post daily, but, barring an emergency, you won't go longer than 3 days without my posting. The summary doesn't do the story justice so read to get the real picture. The prequel to this is "Be My Hero," so read that for a bit more background on Barry & Oliver's relationship and Barry's relationship with Team Flash.

Oliver didn’t speak once the whole trip. He and Felicity just sat on the train to Central City in silence. This worried Felicity. Sure Oliver wasn’t the most loquacious of people, but, due to his upbringing, he was polite enough to answer back and put on a facade for those not as close to him. He seemed… shattered.

 

Oliver felt broken. He couldn’t keep up the facade any longer. He couldn’t bring himself to do anything. Felicity was trying to get him to eat, but he refused. He did drink some juice so as to appease her. He is in pieces and he doesn’t know how to put himself back together again. She talked to him, but he didn’t respond. He just stared out the window blankly for the whole trip.

 

When they arrived at the station, they came out of the train to see a giant ornate sign with their names on held by the one and only Barry Allen. “Barry!” Felicity greeted. Barry’s smile was a mile wide as he went to hug Felicity. Oliver trailed behind her. 

“Hey, Felicity! Hey, Ollie!” Barry said. Oliver knew Barry was just trying to get a rise out of him. He hated being called ‘Ollie’ especially by Barry’s chirpy voice. But he didn’t feel like complaining, so he just gave Barry a nod of acknowledgement. Barry didn’t comment on the fact that he wasn’t speaking, so Felicity must have texted him ahead of time.

 

“How’s the team?” Felicity inquired, making small talk while they walked to Barry’s car. 

“They’re good,” he replied. Oliver could tell by the strained tone in Barry’s voice that the relationship there wasn’t the strongest. Like they were colleagues and that was where it ended. It was Team Flash and the Flash, not Barry Allen and Cisco Ramon or Barry Allen and Iris West. “How’s life in Star? Any new undertakings being planned or Cliché Villain #3s?”

“Nope,” Felicity said stringently as the got in the car. She then proceeded to kick Barry in the shin surreptitiously, attempting to get him to change the subject back to Star. Oliver noticed, but didn’t comment.

 

Once they got to the hotel, Felicity texted Barry to wait outside as she and Oliver went to their rooms. She unlocked the door to Oliver’s room and gestured for him to sit on the couch. He didn’t respond to any of her ramblings on the way up to the room, but Felicity decided not to let it worry her anymore than it already had since he’d been like that for awhile. She turned the TV on and covered him with an extra blanket she got from the front desk when they were checking in. With Oliver settled, she told him she had to go run an errand and that she’d be back with dinner in a bit.

 

She walked outside the hotel to see Barry still parked where he was before. She got in the car, and they started talking. “So,” Barry started. “What was that?”

“I don’t know,” Felicity explained, “The team’s been giving him a hard time lately, but yesterday he just… I don’t know, broke? He went home, and by the time I got there he was having a panic attack. I couldn’t get him to calm down, so I sedated him, and then planned our trip here. He hasn’t talked the whole time since then,” Felicity finished.

“What’re we gonna do,” Barry asked rubbing his hand down his face. “Maybe we could get him to leave Team Arrow.” Felicity nodded.

“We could go to a different city,” she said.

“Tulsa. One of the S.T.A.R. Labs branches is there (A/N Eobard Thawne left Barry S.T.A.R. Labs, so he owns the company.). You know, I’d come with you all. There’s not really anything keeping me in Central except there’s nowhere else to go.” He admitted. 

“That’d be cool. We’d have to ask Oliver first, though. You know, we were happy before we came back to Star. Maybe we could have that again.”

So, they agreed that after Felicity and Oliver’s vacation, they would pack up and move to Tulsa, Oklahoma. They’d start a new life. Free of people who don’t appreciate them and only weigh them down. If Oliver agreed of course.


	4. Problems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry has a breakthrough with Oliver.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, y'all!
> 
> Sorry I haven't posted in 2 days, I couldn't get inspiration, but it's back and better than ever, so get ready! Also, shout out tot he story "No Dawn, No Day" by quipquipquip on Fanfiction.net (I'll link it below). It has totally turned me on to possibilities with Stephanie Brown/Damian Wayne! This chapter is a bit short, but more to come! Enjoy!
> 
> https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7141134/5/No-Dawn-No-Day

They were all set up in Tulsa. The apartments were done, jobs were acquired, and a vigilante base set up at the Tulsa S.T.A.R. Labs, but there was still one problem: Oliver still wouldn’t talk. It’d been 2 weeks and Felicity and Barry couldn’t get one word out of him. 

 

It scared them, honestly. They wondered if they were going to be able to put him back together again. They knew he’d never be the same, but they thought at least they could bring him back to where he was after the island. They took turns staying in his apartment because he had nightmares and panic attacks. 

 

Felicity was scared that he may try something, so she didn’t want to leave him alone. Barry decided he would try to talk to him. They had before, during their weekly meetings, discussed feelings, usually to Oliver’s faux-chagrin. “Hey, Oliver.” Barry sat down in front of Oliver smiling. 

“What’s up with you lately? You know, we wanna help you, but you have to tell us what is wrong.” Oliver looked at Barry for a minute, a single tear fell down his face. Barry wiped it, then a torrential downpour of tears came. 

 

Oliver sobbed and sobbed, so Barry just held him while whispering sweet reasurances in his ears. Barry hoped that once Oliver finally got it out, he would be able to talk about it. Oliver cired for a long time, but eventually he stopped, and just leaned against Barry. They were sitting on the sofa in Oliver’s apartment. Finally, Oliver said, “I-I just can’t do it anymore, Barry. I’m broken, a-and I can’t be p-put back t-together a-again.”

 

“Yes you can,” Barry said, “You put me back together, why can’t I return the favor,” Barry smiled. “Just let me.” Barry said.

“O-okay.” Oliver conceded. Barry smiled even wider, and hugged Oliver.


	5. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We reach our end here. This is how their lives turn out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, y'all!  
> Last chapter. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did! Enjoy!

It was a long road to recovery, but they did it. Oliver, Barry, and Felicity put Oliver back together and refurbished themselves in the process. They have lives in Tulsa. Happy ones, with friends and activities and each other.

 

Oliver, Felicity, and Barry are walking down the street towards the Jitters branch in Tulsa. Just now, they were with the old Teams Arrow and Flash. The teams complained about melodramatics and made demands for them to return. This didn’t faze their ex-team members. They simply replied that their place was in Tulsa now, and that it was better for them here. Then the teams apologized and begged for the return of their heroes, but they still refused. All but Cisco & Caitlin left. They replied that they hoped the heroes were happy and would stay happy in Tulsa, and wished them the best with genuinely content smiles.

 

The sun kissed their faces and shone as bright as their light souls. They talked emphatically about their plans for the week, and the relief of being done. Being done with the pain, hardship, and drama. The chains had been broken and they swore to ever be shackled again. 

 

Sure, they still had their problems, but that did not matter to them anymore. They would get through them together without any added stress from their ex-teammates who supposedly ‘cared’ about their well-being.  

 

They were happy. Oliver gripped the door handle and opened it for Barry and Felicity. Felicity walked in beaming and bee-lined for a booth while Barry sped through the coffee shop to get the patrons ahead orders in order to get, what Cisco coined before he and Caitlin left, ‘Team Flarrowatch’ its drinks. 

 

When all was done, they sat and just enjoyed each other’s company. The conversation was light and whimsical. Nothing too heavy or serious. They were still vigilantes, but without the stresses of their old cities the job wasn’t so taxing anymore, so they could enjoy moments like this one. 

 

They vowed to themselves and each other that they would have moments like this, at least one every day, for the rest of their lives. The scene is left with smiles bigger than Jupiter, brighter than all the stars in the sky, and lighter than a single subatomic particle.

 

\- The End -  


End file.
